 So if you're walking around medical school and you see a student with one of these in one hand and one of these in another, they're likely going into ortho. And in case you are too, in this video we'll talk about exactly how to do it, let's get into it. Hey friends, welcome back to the MD journey. We're here on this channel. We're all about helping you succeed on your medical journey, but doing it with less stress. Today I want to do a full deep dive into what it takes to become an orthopedic surgeon. So if you're interested, we'll go over everything, including grades, time, career options, as well as things that are importantly job satisfaction and salary. And if one of those sounds particularly interesting, then you can check out the chapters which will be linked down below in case you're watching this on YouTube. But if you're excited to get started, let's get into it. So first, let's talk about exactly what an orthopedic surgeon does. I know initially in my head, it was like always like somebody just sawing through a bone, but unfortunately that's not always the case because it seems to seem pretty cool. But an orthopedic surgeon is a surgeon or a physician who is specialized in the musculoskeletal system and using surgery to deal with various injuries of the muscles that joints, the ligaments and tendons. Because the musculoskeletal system is just so broad, you find that trainees often will focus on a specific niche and get further training in one specific area. So some common things include things like sports medicine. If you're ever a sports fan, you've likely heard of Dr. Andrews, who's operated on tons and tons of different athletes throughout the NBA and NFL. But there's also other areas within orthopedics that have become really popular, including things like adult reconstructive surgery, foot and ankle hand, as well as things like pediatrics and spine surgery. So if you're interested in orthopedics and you want to work with your hands, there's so many more options than you're probably aware of. And I definitely would recommend looking into it further. So beyond just the typical feels that we think of such as sports medicine or knee replacements or hip replacements, there's tons and tons of fields within orthopedics that you should definitely consider. Now that we know what options are available to you as a possible future orthopedic surgeon, let's talk about exactly how long it takes to become one. Now, simply to become a physician of any kind, at least here in the US, you need a bachelor's degree, which for most people will take four years, as well as four years of medical school. And unfortunately, you're not done there because then you'll be followed with orthopedic surgery, which can range anywhere from four. And typically what I see is five years. And during this five year residency, typically your first year will be spent doing more general surgery, just so you can have those experiences under your tool belt. And then the last four will be more focused on orthopedic related rotations. And just like we talked about earlier, nowadays it's becoming more common for trainees to subspecialize and really get good at their craft in one specific niche. And so that'll usually involve a fellowship of some kind, whether it be orthopedic sports medicine or pediatric orthopedics or any of the fields that we talked about, which can range anywhere from one to two years, depending on the program. So adding all of that up, you get four years of college, four years of medical school, five years of residency, about one to two years of fellowship. And if my math serves me well, then that adds up to four plus, carry the one, about 13 to 15 years. I promise a much better at math than that. So for orthopedic surgery is a field you're considering in, ask yourself that 13 to 15 years is something you get to devote your life to. But then again, 13 to 15 years are gonna pass by anyways. So for orthopedic surgery is a field you're considering, definitely give it some serious thought. So now that we've covered the time that it takes to be an orthopedic surgeon, let's talk about the grades that you need to start looking into having to increase your chances of actually becoming one. Now, if we go back as far as your MCAT score, there's not really a correlation between what your MCAT score was and whether you're likely to become an orthopedic surgeon. Typically people who will do better on a test in college will tend to do better on other exams in medical school and then increase your chances of going into a competitive specialty like orthopedic surgery. But again, typically the average MCAT score of somebody who goes into medical school ends up being anywhere from a 508 to a 510, at least in the making of this video. But then we transition from the MCAT all the way to the exams that you actually take in medical school. And then we start with step one, which is going to be soon after making of this video going to be pass-fail. But if you do have a score, the higher the score you have, the likelihood of you getting into orthopedic surgery increases and typically the average is anywhere from a high 240s, like 248 to the 250s, depending on the program you're going into. Now this is going to transition from step one into step two, which you end up taking typically towards the latter half of your four years in medical school. And this score is going to change just based off of the fact that step one is no longer going to be graded and it's going to be pass-fail. So right now the average of somebody who gets into orthopedic surgery, residency ends up being around a 255 to a high 250s. But again, the score may increase because more students are going to give step two extra attention because they really want to go into orthopedic surgery. So bottom line, if you are pre-med watching this, you haven't taken your MCAT, do your best on getting the highest score possible and spending as much time as you need to getting that ideal score to increase the chances of going to a medical school that just has a better reputation, which increases your chances of going to a higher residency. If you haven't taken step two CK just yet, have a system, watch some of the videos that we have here on this channel to really improve your grades while you're on a busy rotation. And if taking step one, step two, and then step three, when you're a resident wasn't enough, unfortunately, the American boards of orthopedic surgery thinks that maybe surgeons should like still be on top of their game and take a test every so often. So unfortunately, every seven to 10 years, you do have to get re-certified to make sure you still have what it takes to like stop those bones and lift your first aid and your weights. So next let's transition into the job market and the job opportunities. Now the subspecialties that tend to attract the most residents who are graduating into fellowship includes things like sports medicine, shoulder and elbow as well as oncology. But in terms of jobs that are available in the general market, some areas have it to where a general orthopedic surgeon is going to be very high in demand just because they rather have one person who's good at a lot of things versus more urban areas may want somebody who is more specific and well versed in a specific niche. And so some of the highest areas of demands include things like foot and ankle, adult reconstruction, as well as trauma orthopedic surgery. As we get to the very end of this episode, we'll talk about job satisfaction as well as salary. So let's just start with basically how happy is an orthopedic surgeon? In terms of the surveys that I was finding online and I'll link those down below in case you're interested, orthopedic surgeons were saying that they're either very satisfied or moderately satisfied with their job 88% of the time, which is kind of unheard of especially in the field of surgery, which is really time intensive, training intensive and just 88% now for those surgeons who did say that they didn't enjoy their job, about 20% of them focused on the stress that came with the long work hours, about 15% of them came with a lack of kind of recognition for doing great work. And like any field, the main factor that really played a role into job satisfaction include things like availability of jobs, ability to jump between jobs and kind of have flexibility, the support of the team and group that they were a part of, the income as well as incentives that the hospital or the clinic system had set up for them. So now that we know that most orthopedic surgeons tend to actually like a job, let's actually talk about the thing that most people want to focus on, which is how much do they make? Now in terms of salary, one of my favorite places to really look and compare especially for different areas in the country in the United States is using the Doximity's salary map. So essentially you can go through any county. So I'm here in Dallas County at the moment. So about the average estimated compensation for an orthopedic surgeon is about north of 500,000. And that seems to be the kind of common trend with some moral rural areas kind of getting closer to 600,000 and some areas kind of a high popular demand. I saw some 600,000 around the country. So here we are in Kansas. So 610,000 if you want to be an orthopedic surgery in Trego County, Kansas. And if you're a subscriber from there, you should let me know because that'd be just kind of cool to a picture county. Now there's going to be a few factors that play a role in this, one of them being just essentially what you actually do with an orthopedic surgery. Two procedures may have completely different reimbursement rates. And so a surgeon who tends to do the one with a higher reimbursement may have to do less procedures, but still gets a higher salary. On a similar note, if you are a surgeon who is really good at their craft and you're going to continue to attract patients through referral systems and other kind of physicians recommending them to come to you. And so you're just going to have a nice pool of patients who you can continue to do what you're good at. And so that will tend to also increase your revenue. And then finally, the hospital system that you work with and incentives and the bonuses that you get. So if you're a surgeon who is just really good at what they do, the hospital system or the clinic that you work at just won't be able to get rid of you just because you provide so much value, you get so much patient referrals that they're obviously making more money than you are. And so you're likely going to have more bonuses and incentives that are on your way. My own personal opinion that I always share because knowing how long it takes to get through this journey, if the salary is all you're going for, do not do this job. There is so many more things that you can do for the money. If you enjoy working with patients and it's particularly an orthopedic surgery, if you enjoy working with your hands and with orthopedic related injuries, then this may be the field for you. But remember, 15 years. So ask yourself, is that going to be worth it? But that guys is my breakdown of how to become an orthopedic surgeon, exactly what an orthopedic surgeon does. The salaries they get, the job satisfaction, as well as the opportunities that you have in the future of orthopedic surgery. And this will likely change as technology allows us to just do more cool stuff within the field of musculoskeletal system. So definitely keep a lookout on the new innovations that come out in this field. But if you did enjoy this video, then you'll probably also enjoy the resources that we have for you on the Medellin Academy, which is an all-in-one resource created for medical students and pre-meds to be able to do well on your medical journey through step-by-step advice and strategies. So if you guys are interested, I'll be linked down below. But as always, my friends, if you did enjoy this video, go ahead and hit that like button and subscribe button if you're watching this on YouTube. Go ahead and drop your comments down below. And if you're listening to this on a podcast, definitely consider hitting that subscribe or follow as well as leaving an honest review on iTunes. But as always, guys, thank you for joining me on my journey. Hopefully that was a little help to you guys on yours. I'll see you guys in the next one. If you did enjoy this video, then you'll probably also enjoy this video, what it takes to become a cardiologist, as well as this video on how you can use Anki like a pro step-by-step. Enjoy these, I'll see you guys in the next one. Peace, my friends.